Castles in Moonlight

Friday, May 31, 2013

I had never read the book until I saw it a couple of weeks ago in the grocery store. Cute. So the panel was cut apart and redesigned.

And all hand quilted. Happy little guy.

So I went to the post office to mail it this morning. Came around the corner inside and one guy was waiting to use the machine....then he ducked in the line just ahead of me. Ok, no big deal... then he went to pay with a debit card, and the computer locked up!!! 10 minutes go by and the nice clerk called her supervisor. No other clerks were there to help the ever growing line.... She finds out that there was just an email about how someone hacked the nation's postal computers and they were all not taking debit or credit cards!!! Great. They couldn't have called the clerks to let them know? So finally another clerk came out and opened up her station. I paid with cash. Not that it's ok to hack the postal system, but they have enough problems without help from some stupid person who has nothing better to do!

I'm working on my own stuff for the next couple of days. Then I'm going out of town for 2 weeks. Going to see my sister. Should be a nice drive up there and then just take it easy. Mini golf, movie or two, and eating lots of good food. And fabric shopping up in Maine!!! My car gets loaded down for the trip back. I'm taking my IPAD, and if I can get on to her house internet, then I can post on this blog! We'll see how well I do.

Start something new! I figure, then I won't forget the ideas if they are started!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Wow! A week has gone by... my friend, Candace came into town so we could go to Tone's Daughter's wedding. This was beautiful! Outside on a wonderful day.

There's Eda and Ryan!

They were both sooo happy!

And the first dance as hubby and wife.

Eda said her face was starting to hurt from smiling sooo much that day! It was great.

Then Candace and I went up to Athens, Ohio with this stop in Berea, KY. The art work was really great! They had the hands all decorated in this park.

This is one quilt in the show. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck this one. It was all machine quilted, black thread on white fabric.

Stayed over night in a town about 1 hour away. SAQA was in Athens and all the hotels were full. then we drove to this artist place in West Virginia! It was full of more beautiful things.

Like painted chairs.

And felted things.

And colorful paintings.

I really had a great time driving for 2 days. Over 800 miles! So today I'm back to quilting on the catapiller one. Candace is visiting other friends and will be heading home on Wednesday. Terry gets home on Thursday... Then on the following Tuesday, I'll be going to my sister's. So I may be able to put things on line on my IPAD.... we'll see!!!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

These plants have been growing for over 3 years. They have reached the ceiling and bent over the curtain rod. I have my friend coming to stay and need to close the curtains! So I have trimmed them back and moved out 2 of the pots.

And here is the one last plant in the room. I love those other plants and put cuttings into a bucket with water. Hopefully they will start roots and I can get them going again. I love the big leaves.

Here is the panel for my bag that people in Thursday bee have added things to. I will now make the bag!

Ta-da! Yesterday I sewed it up. So it looks like like the octopus is holding on to it from the bottom.

You'll be able to see things better once I put a quilt into it and carry it around!

From my sewing room window there is a big bush that these little brown birds have made a nest. One of them sings about every 2 hours! It's wonderful. They use the bird bath everyday and are very busy in there.

Now I need to get busy! I spent most of the weekend cleaning....something I don't like to do often... but Candace will be here either very late tonight, or early tomorrow. So I had to trim down the bushes and get the room ready for her. I have a small quilt to try and finish before I go to my sister's. Just trying to keep up!

At the guild meeting last night, one lady showed us a beautiful quilt. She said it would go on the bed when the cat dies. Too true.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

This was at Deb's Birthday party. the theme was "the 60's"! So I found the dyed dress, fringed vest and put blue in my hair! Standing to the left of me is Lynn.

Here's Lynn and her sister, Marian.

Here's Deb and her hubby, Joe. They were dancing to their song from the 60's. It was a fun, fun party! Great food and decorations, and a chocolate fountain!!! I did eat chocolate, but didn't sit there with a glass and straw. Deb's daughter is a pro party planner. She did a terrific job.

So quilting today and then in the afternoon, I'm meeting up with Brenda. Have you ever gone out to eat and wanted a great dessert but you were just too full from the big portions? Well, every once in a while, we just go out for dessert. That's today! Going to a place that has a chocolate cream pie and a chocolate lasanga. OH BOY!!!

Friday, May 17, 2013

2 bags are done. This needs the top edge finished. Theme was leaves! The bear was adorable. It "goes" under the strap and you can see it inside.

I put on the strippy leaves. they are pockets!

This was really pretty on the side, so I had to show you it.

Pat's bag is all done. One side....

...and the other!

And looking down into it to see where she has put her pockets. The outside and inside are the same color green. The lighting changed the inside color to more yellow.

Tonight I'm going to a "60's" birthday party. She's turned 60 and we are to dress like we did in the 60's! I love it. The funny part is that most of the stuff came straight out of my closet! I will have to take my camera and get some shots of this tonight!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

OK!!! Here is the hiden project being done by Thursday Bees!!! We decided to make placemats for one of the bees daughter who is getting married next week! They really turned out beautiful and so creative! Sandy, Mellissa, Allison, and Susan did the first 4 here.

Mine, Nellie, Debbie, and Gloria!

Deb, Linda, Diane, and Pat!

Close up to show the quilting on this one.

Jane's.

Shiela's was turned in today at bee.

And mine!

Tone was there. These are for her daughter. So we showed these to her and gave her a fat quarter of the blue fabric so she could make one to go with it. This was very hard to keep a secret. I'm not good at that! And Tone said she had no idea that we were doing this! What fun to see her face!!!

So there's a fun idea when there is a group wanting to all make something. Tone has made all her family members quilts. So we thought placemats would be creative and individual. She can mix and match, or turn them over and use them all on the blue side. Or she can put them all up on the wall as little wall hangings! Anyway she wants to enjoy them!!!

Tomorrow, I will show you 2 more of the bags that are done. They are turning out really well too!!!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Hee, hee!!! Isn't this wonderful! This is the start of my bag to carry quilts around. You take 6 fat quarters and sew them together. I used blue and wanted "under the sea"for my theme. And the girls went crazy in such a great way!!! Octopus was by Nancy.

Cat fish were by Diane.

Jelly fish by Susan.

more fish by Diane!

There are 3 cat fish.

Crab by Pat.

And the sea anemones are by Gloria!!! I really love the creativity of this group. I want to take pictures of all the bags when they are done. Once I sew mine up, then I'll take more pictures. When I pull up the sides to make the bag, it looks like the octopus is holding on to the bottom of the bag!!!

Here's the next quilt that I'll mark and baste to start quilting. It's all flannel and the backing is too. Very cozy and soft. It'll have simple quilting in it. Work with the lines that are there. In the dotted fabric you won't see a quilted design, but straight lines will show up.

Did do some trimming of bushes out front. And I lost the clippers. I think I put them onto the tarp with the cuttings and dragged it all down behind the fence and dumped it. They were not very good clippers....so I'll go get another pair. But it bugs me that I don't know where they ended up. The garden just looks so good this year!!! And we have a freeze warning for tonight!!! It's May for heavens sake!

My friend is coming up from Florida in about 10 days...10 DAYS!? I have got to get the house sorted out and get things organized.... Geeze. We'll have fun and then I go to my sister's house in June. Love that. Trips are good for the head and soul. I don't get as much work done, but I get into a better place mentally.

What do you do to get into a creative mood? I don't need more ideas, just the spark to get creative and cut things out.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

This woman took 11 years to hand piece this whole quilt. 106 x 89". It's huge.

There are 2 main blocks. this is one, and

this is the other. So when they are placed every other block, you get the inner sashing that runs on the diagonal. Very creative.

I don't know if you can see what I quilted in the border or not.....

So 2 got finished this week!!! Next one is in the frame and I have to work up an estimate on the other one...

There is a wedding coming up soon and a good friend of mine is coming into town around the 20th. So there will be house cleaning to do and other things going on. Then she leaves and I'll be getting ready to head to my sisters. And some gardening... and time will fly by. I can't believe we are in May already. I thought things would slow down after a while, but there always seems to be more to do. I have a hammock that never seems to get put up. And 2 years ago the tree that we used to hook it to, came down in a storm. So I need to get some place to sit and relax outside!!!

Friday, May 10, 2013

This one is out of the frame!!! Got the binding sewn on and flipped over. Now to hand sew it down. It's 106 x 89". Plenty to work on!!!

Into the frame! Cute catapiller story. It will go much faster in the frame than using a hoop.

Weather is supposed to be rainy tomorrow. We'll see. I do want to make the garden look neater! But you all know I would rather be quilting any time!!

Terry and I are going to Kroger tomorrow. They have a special on lobster. They will even cook them. So we want to go get 2 for Saturday night dinner!!! Sweet. I don't like Mother's day much. My Mom died 2 days before it years ago. So I get sad right about now. Everyone saying "happy mother's day"... what can I do. Tell them about Mom? Just makes their day worse. So when you go around saying that, just remember, not everyone has their Mom here for that. Terrible way to go, but I can't help it. So Terry and I will go out and get a coffee at Books A Million, which is a treat for me. I like going there and reading things. Also like that the music isn't blasting away. And the girls there know us now. Like going into "Cheers", where people know your name.

We had an absolute blast at the track and plan on going to another one in July. Drive fast!!!